


Freedom Lost

by MadamMassacre



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Badass Prussia, Burning flesh, Gen, Guns, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Minor Violence, Other, Post-Battle, Wounds, conflicted germany, so much blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 11:44:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11873667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadamMassacre/pseuds/MadamMassacre
Summary: The blood, the fire, the dead and dying. All too much, all too many casualties... all too real. This is not the war he wanted, but it's the war he got. And Norway wishes for one last stand, one he gets, and perhaps, regrets.





	Freedom Lost

Germany walked among the carnage, nation scanning the dead and dying from his country and that of the one he stood upon. Soldiers from his country rushing past; looking for fleeing soldiers for capture and imprison others for further use, none paid very much mind to the wounded on the ground. Ludwig looked to the sky, noting the gray smoke rising from the north. A part of him relished the victory and another that loathed the pain the country he stood upon would face in these moments.

Germany heard the rustling immediately and sighed. Stepping over the multitude of rotting corpses Ludwig saw a twisting, living Norwegian soldier crawling over the bodies of his fallen comrades. The man stopped his futile effort of a crawl and slowly turned his head to the tall, undeniably Nazi soldier above him. A trickle of blood made its way down his chin as he looked at Germany, a bullet hole bleeding through the jacket he wore on his right arm and disturbingly under him he dragged part of his small intestine along the ground. Germany stifled a significant twitch at the sight of the man. He couldn't be but twenty…

At first, the young soldier looked as though he was about to flee, with his eyes wider than his sockets almost allowed. The man lifted an arm seemingly about to crawl away, Ludwig placed a boot on his back. The soldier moaned in agony as Germany took out his pistol, checking the weapon a moment before removing the safety. He took aim at the soldier's head. For a moment the man writhed beneath him until he grew unnervingly still, his labored breathing echoing in Ludwig's cranium.

He pressed down on the man's spine; a guttural noise came from the man's throat as the rather undeniable sound of blood gurgling up his esophagus masked that of his breathing. The soldier spat, his eyes gleaming, with the strength that he had left twisted around and kicked the nation square in the chest.

Surprised by the act of retaliation, Germany fell back, his boot removed from the man's back to regain his balance. That's when he felt the sickening twist of rotting flesh sliding under his foot, the nauseous crunch of a dead man's ribs snapping and breaking under the heavy weight put onto them. He dared not to look down at the corpse below him.

The Norwegian soldier rolled entirely onto his back, exposing his slit stomach and the organs that spilled from them. Germany could have sworn he saw another one slide from the upper part of the man's midsection and into the open wound. The soldier's eyes bore into him, ablaze and angry. He growled, a feral air surrounding him, uttering something in the man's own language before blood again gurgled in his throat and it began spilling like a waterfall from his mouth.

The man snarled again, more blood splashing onto the ground from his wound and mouth, the red substance turning the already wet ground into a maroon colored mud. Addressing the nation in a tongue he could understand, he snarled, "Are you going to shoot me you damn Nazi?"

Germany kept an impassive gaze upon the man, his pity beginning to seep into his stature as he raised the pistol to the man's head. Blue eyes met amber brown as the soldier stared into the seemingly soulless pits that were Ludwig's eyes. The Norwegian snarled again, spitting out the overflowing amount of blood from his mouth. He grunted in his own language, "I see blood on your hands Nazi. Let Norway curse your damned soul."

Germany didn't even remember pulling the trigger, the bullet going straight through the man's skull and out the back into the muck. The sound resonating for miles; Germany gave a shaky sigh, lowering the pistol in his hand.

Muttering 'mein Gott' under his breath as the smoke drifted across the sky above. He held his head steadily for a moment as he knelt down to close the soldier's eyes, avoiding the blood that had been spilled into the dirt and grass. The two amber eyes staring at nothing but the gray, the darkening sky of his country, he should not be allowed to see the flames that would engulf him so soon.

Ludwig stopped his previous movements as the man's eyelids fell shut. Suddenly all too aware of another presence. "Lovely day Tyskland, hyggelig å se din fortsatt er i live."

He glanced at the person behind him fully knowing that this was no ordinary man. "Hallo, Norwegen."

"Hei, Tyskland," the nation muttered. His eyes bearing nothing in them but the deadness that covered the field, of which they stood, Ludwig chose to ignore it.

Germany rose to his full height, keeping his stance more domineering and his face an unreadable mask. Despite their height difference, Ludwig still felt a tinge of intimidation nagging at him. There were plenty of stories about the warriors called the Vikings, but that had been a long time ago. Norway was no longer a pillager of lands and barely a threat.

Germany cleared his throat, "Surrender and no more harm will come to your people." A cracked smile appeared on the shorter nation's face.

A dagger gripped in the elder nation's left hand and a gun strapped to his back, mocking Ludwig, he only had a pistol on him at the moment. "We both know that's a lie."

Without much of a warning, Lukas threw the dagger at the German. Reacting fast, Germany threw himself backward as he attempted to dodge. The knife sliced into the nation's flesh anyway, a low snarled escaped his throat as he eyed the Norwegian before him. Quickly he glanced back to look for the knife before Norway advanced on him.

Norway leaped and tackled, surprisingly managing to knock the taller nation down to the ground. A knee in his chest Germany rolled to his side as hard as he could, effectively causing the persona to release him. Scrambling to his feet the German drew his pistol, he aimed but did not shoot, that was his first mistake. The Norwegian paid no mind to the weapon aimed at him and drew the blade he had strapped to his side. He rushed Ludwig, and in response, the German fired. But the bullet never hit its target.

Norway had jumped out of the way only a second or two before the bullet passed him. The persona didn't waste a moment, shooting out in front of the German, sword drawn ready to slice the German open like a pig for slaughter.

Ludwig's eyes flashed, his mind reeling at the image of the soldier's entrails spilling out onto the ground. He was frozen, every muscle locked, even though his brain was screaming at him to move his body refused to take the order. He realized that the man he'd killed earlier would be him very soon until he either died or fully healed from the mortal wound.

The clash of metal brought him out of his thoughts, alerting him to the shining, silver sword that rested in front of his face, Norway's own blade locked with it.

The German followed the second sword's blade until Prussia's albino skin and red eyes filled his vision, the nation smiling madly. He laughed, "It looks like I came in at the right time to save you, West. Little Viking nation too much for mein bruder or are you going easy on him?"

The Norwegian drew back far enough to be out of reach as Prussia chuckled darkly. The image of a predator playing with his prey before the kill plagued Germany's mind as he looked to his older brother. Norway stumbled slightly before drawing himself into a fighting stance once again a low growl being uttered from the back his throat. His blue, purple eyes now locked on the Prussian rather than Ludwig. The albino laughed at the anger filled gaze. He leaped at the shorter nation, locking swords with the Norwegian as soon as he was close enough. Norway drew back and struck from the side, Prussia locked swords again, metal scraping and sparks flying.

Ludwig interfered as soon as he got the chance. Grabbing the smaller nation by the left shoulder and pulling, using his ox-like build against the quicker, smaller body. Norway yelped in pain as he was grabbed. Prussia took his opportunity and blindly swiped. Norway dropped down from the German's grasp. Hissing the Norwegian looked up at the Prussian who still was smiling madly over his new victory.

The cut didn't go deep enough to cause internal damage but enough to bleed, maybe even scar over. The new mark ran across his left shoulder onto his chest, the red substance already leaking out onto the navy blue uniform, staining it a color not meant for his country.

Germany forced the nation onto his stomach, tossing him down with ease, making sure to tie Norway's hands together in the process. Pressing down on the nation's back to secure him he was suddenly aware of the large stain on Norway's back. Ludwig felt his heart skip a beat as the blood began to soak through his gloves and stain his hands.

Ludwig controlled his almost frantic movements as he removed a glove, the red, sticky substance engulfing his hand. The nation looked down at Norway slowly comprehending the damage done. They were burning his country; they were burning a part of Norway. Prussia knelt down and touched the wound much like a child would. Germany felt the Norwegian tense beneath him, uttering a foul string of words more than likely directed at Gilbert under his breath.

Rubbing the blood between his fingers, Prussia was torn between sadistic enjoyment and a form of dread. Norway struggled under the German, his knee digging into Lukas's back painfully. Easing up his weight he looked to the north again.

Ludwig was suddenly very aware of the approaching flames as the Norwegian tried to twist free of his captor. "Bruder, we need to get out of here." His demanding tone edging off into something akin to panic that was almost evident in his voice.

"What…and miss Norwegen begging for mercy?" Germany gave a glare as Norway spat a string of profanities at the Prussian in his own language.

"Hey, that wasn't very nice of you!" The Norwegian continued on into something about Germania and Old Fritz, Germany could only barely understand what the nation was muttering. Apparently, his brother was having a much easier time deciphering; his eyes reminded Germany of the fires that were slowly approaching.

Prussia snapped, "That's it you Scandinavian prick, no one insults the awesome Prussia like that and lives!"

Gilbird hissed viciously as the Prussian drew his sword again, placing the sharpened blade against the back of Norway's neck. Germany hastily grabbed his brother's arm, holding onto his wrist with a death grip. "Stoppen Sie diesen East!"

Slowly Prussia backed down, the tenseness in his muscles easing off and sword slightly lax in his hand. Hastily he removed the sword from the nation's neck and placed it within its sheath. Norway simply stared at Gilbert with disdain clear in his normally emotionless eyes. "I never liked you, prick." The Prussian growled, Norway simply snapped his jaws like a dog as Germany pressed down on Lukas a bit harder.

He hissed in pain and lowered himself closer to the wet ground, still trying to wriggle out from under the German's weight. Prussia huffed, mumbling something about how he was too awesome to kill someone under these conditions.

Germany only gave his brother a fraction of his attention as he took the Norwegian from the ground, hoisting the nation up onto his feet. Ludwig was more concerned about the approaching flames than anything. They needed to leave now, or things were going to get a bit too hot for comfort.

Norway looked among the dead, his eyes turning back to their dead state as Germany stripped him of his weapons. The Norwegian uttering possibly another profanity as the German took his sword and tossed it to the ground. Gilbert's eternal smirk full force as he picked it up and ran his forefinger along the blade. Not even fully noticing when the blade cut the tip of his finger open. The smallest of facial twitches crossed Lukas's features.

The blaze made a cracking, popping noise as it approached, burning trees and wet grass along the way. Water evaporating as soon as the blaze got close enough to give off heat, it was on a rampage. Germany only hoped that civilians had evacuated before it happened rather than being burned to death in the blaze.

The nation shifted the Norwegian, tugging his bound wrists cruelly. Norway snarled but made no other protest as he was led off the battlefield.

...

Prussia laughed again as his brother stopped the vehicle in the drive. His red eyes glowing brighter by the second with every giggle, "So Norwegan, it seems you have been captured by the awesome Prussia and his bruder, what do you think?"

Norway remained silent, Gilbert poked him playfully, the nation shifted in the back as a tired response. Germany opened the back door patiently waiting for the nation to get up; half tempted to drag the Nordic out. The Norwegian stared at him for a moment, shifting himself on the tarp causing it to make a noise. The German had put it down to make sure his back seats stayed unstained since he was fairly certain Norway's back wasn't going to stop bleeding until that fire was put out.

Eventually, the Norwegian compliantly got out without much of any issue, leaning against the side of the vehicle as he stood. The nation was eyeing the house, his mind an unreadable enigma to the German before him. It wasn't a terribly large house but not very small one either; it didn't look much different from any other house in the country except for a couple minor details. The Nordic's eyes flashed, and suddenly his mind was more readable than it'd previously been, Norway was not going to go in that house without a fight.

"Come on, I haven't got all night." Ludwig nudged the Nordic, grabbing onto the bond wrists, bruised and bleeding from is futile struggling in the back.

Norway made no indication that he was going to move, much less comply with the German's orders. Germany groaned in annoyance, "Look, I'm not too thrilled about this either, but you either come in or stay out here tied to a post."

Prussia laughed from the front seat where he'd been quietly watching the two. "Like a little dog, can we call him…"

The Norwegian laughed, literally, laughed. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't anything like Denmark had described it, it was terrifying. It wasn't cute, it wasn't amusing, it was nightmare inducing. Cackling and cracked it sounded almost like a hyena's. The nation leaned against the vehicle, eyes filled with tears from his hysterical laugh. It bided him time, Norway felt the grip on his bound wrists loosen, they fell to the ground and he ran.

Prussia took off after him in a blind frenzy, launching himself after the Nordic. The war nation growled as his legs began to burn, Norway kept a steady pace ahead of him. The Prussian leaped forward to grab at the Norwegian before Lukas took a sharp turn to the left and into the woods beyond the property.

Gilbert landed on the ground with a harsh thud and a roll before scrambling to his feet. He could see Ludwig trailing not too far behind, going after the Nordic nation into the woods. The Prussian madly launched from the ground, stumbling for only a moment before kicking himself into a fast sprint. The hunt was on.

…

Norway leaped over branches and mud, galloping over sticks and cold grass. Tree branches whacking him in the face with almost every moment, some leaving red marks and a couple breaking the skin, he could still hear someone behind him. Judging by the steps, Ludwig was catching up, quickly; the German had the advantage of home field adding that to not being as physically bad off as Norway currently was and the Norwegian found himself a goner.

His lungs were burning, his back bleed and burned over and over until it began to destroy the muscle beneath before stopping. It hurt, along with the minor slice he had received from the Prussian. The blows that had bruised from the German, pain was all he really felt at the moment, but the only thing keeping him going was his will to survive.

Suddenly Norway became frighteningly aware of a certain German directly behind him. He also had become well aware of how fast his heart was beating, it felt as if it would burst from his chest. That's when his vision was filled with black spots and suddenly he found he was no longer running. Instead was falling.

He impacted the ground hard, leaves flying up into the air along with dirt and bits of twigs. The Norwegian simply lay there attempting to breathe only barely registering the heavy tromping of Germany coming up behind him. The slice on his chest stung from the sweat that leaked into it, his back was simply burning to a point of numbness and his mind was a haze. It was over.

The German stopped before his prisoner. Ludwig at first only nudged the older nation before unceremoniously kicking him in the gut with the side of his foot. Norway just lay there, unmoving, Germany growled. Taking the rope he had previously taken from the vehicle earlier he tied it to the nation's bound wrists and around his neck. The other end he tied to the base of a medium-sized tree, "Enjoy your stay, Norwegan." He spat ruefully. He was beginning to grow tired of this.

…

Prussia noted the Dane periodically maneuvering himself around the house, more accurately near the door. It was obvious really, Denmark knew that they had captured Norway and was currently waiting patiently for his childhood friend to come through the door. How sweet, really.

Gilbert was fairly sure that Sweden was keeping him up to date on some things in the war or he had seen Norway outside when they pulled up. Whichever. Despite the circumstances, though, the Dane was still semi-happy with seeing the Norwegian again.

The Prussian heard the door open and saw his younger brother come in, alone. Gilbert raised a brow, "Where's the dog?"

Denmark poked his head through the doorway and furrowed his brow, listening in of course. Germany gave a very low barely audible sigh, "I left him in the woods, tied to a tree for the night; I'll get him in the morning." The German shrugged off his coat and placed it on the hanger.

Prussia ignored the sudden disappearance of a certain Danish captive. "And you're the one that told me to stop; I might have saved him from an entire twelve hours of cold suffering."

Germany gave an apathetic look and sighed again, Gilbert had apparently come down from his war-crazed high. "You think I should try and bring him back here?"

The Prussian shrugged, "You said it yourself that this war is now something that neither of us wanted."

Ludwig grumbled under his breath and snatched his coat from the rack, opening and closing the door behind him. Prussia eyed it for a while before getting up and making his way to the phone. He dialed and listened as the receiver picked up, "Do you have room for some extra bodies?"

…

Germany trudged down the dark path watching the last bits of sunlight slip from the sky as the half-moon rose into the darkness above. He barely even remembered where he had left the nation; this 'rescue mission' definitely wasn't his best idea by far. But then again as he mulled it over perhaps it really wasn't his idea. Ludwig stopped his pace and looked around sullenly for any sign of life.

Mostly all he could really hear was the rush of the wind hitting his ears and the rustling of the trees around him. Until he heard something out of sync from the Earth's powerful winds, at first, it sounded like an animal, and then he wasn't very sure. Germany looked around frantically; he could hear someone speaking in a hushed tone.

What were they saying? Nor… nor… Lu… Norway… was that Denmark? Ludwig suddenly noticed the spiky haired male among the brush and trees. Germany found himself inclined to crouch down, there was no telling what the Dane might mistake him for or what he might do. But perhaps he could use this to his advantage.

The Dane took some hesitant steps around a full circle, swinging his head from side to side to try and spot the Norwegian. Once and a while he let off a low murmur of a name and let it echo. Then he'd stay still and wait for an answer. Denmark did this exact act three times every time inching further to the north. Until he heard something, there was a small pathetic sounding whimper as the blonde nation perked at the sound. Ludwig felt the tall Dane leap over him and rush down the invisible path that had been revealed to him. "Stupid!" Mathias yelled over the roaring winds.

Germany raised a brow at the word as the Dane ran down his path.

Germany got up from his crouched position and took off after the spiky-haired nation. His eyes barely picking up the silhouette of the ex-Viking in the dark. The thought occurred to him that if he could barely see, how in hell's name could Denmark see anything out here either. But the Dane pushed on nonetheless.

Ludwig came to a full stop when he saw Denmark staring at the tree he had tied Norway to earlier. Germany didn't see the Norwegian lying on the ground, nor did he see the ropes that he had previously restrained the nation with. It was only when he followed Denmark's gaze did he finally realize where the Norwegian had gone.

His arms slack, yet hoisted above his head, the rope tied to the thick branch above and the bindings curled around his neck, exactly how Germany had bound them. Norway's eyes bore into his soul, staring at him with mirth that could only be accomplished by the dead.

The creaking of the rope straining against the tree and the weight of the body upon it, the Dane just staring and Germany did nothing but join him.  
...TO BE CONTINUED...

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I'd like to give this a happier ending rather than, yea, he hung himself, end of story. But that'll be a while yet, hopefully not too far off, though, I've started on chapter two so... we'll see where I can go from there. Might be a while yet.
> 
> Translations:   
> Stoppen sie diesen: German= Stop this  
> Tyskland, hyggelig å se du fortsatt er i live: Norwegian= Germany, nice to see you're still alive  
> Norwegan: German= Norway  
> Tyskland: Norwegian= Germany
> 
> ~MadamMassacre~EarlyMorningMassacre~


End file.
